WHERE, WHY, HOW, WHY, WHO!

Sunday, June 01, 2014

Gay Shorts: Scruff Riders

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this program (my 6th): it was late Friday night, and it seemed it was going to pander to a desire for sexy nudes and not much more. Well, I was wrong, and prejudiced, it seems. It feels good to be proven wrong too!

Dirty Boots (USA, 2014)
OK, well, my prejudice did last through this short. Good looking men, a few nudes, sex, bikers, kinkiness. Nice to look at, no doubt. But I do thank the programmers for not keeping the trend during the whole screening.Fire Island '79 (USA, 2013)

Now this was something interesting. There was this film-maker/pornographer, Chase Hook, whose whole work had been apparently destroyed by his conservative family upon his suicide. And then, some super8 movies and the tape of his answering machine before his suicide came up. There is something mesmerizing about how he shoots a gorgeous older man on Fire Island, while at the same time you hear messages left to him by fans, lovers and friends right up to the time when he took his own life. Fascinating.

Wham, Bam Mr. Pam (Canada, 2014)

Well well well, a docu-short about a female producer of male gay porn! Frankly, this was an enlightening (if probably not very typical) inside peek in this industry, and Pam (the pornographer) is quite the (funny) character too!

Wandering Clouds (Nubes Flotantes; Mexico, 2013)

I was surprised, and pleased, to see a Mexican short here. With a very different rhythm from the others, it tells a story about discrimination and acceptance, using three young men at a public swimming pool as an excuse, and with poetry as narrative. I'm not the kind of person than enjoys literary poetry much, but this one I enjoyed. Nicely done.

Barrio Boy (USA, 2013)

The commonest of tropes: you meet this person that sets your imagination on fire, you picture kissing them, spending the night with them, spending LIFE with them, all during a short accidental interaction. But it's so well told and paced, it's so tender and real... One of my favourites.

Being There (Israel, 2013)

What happens when an inexperienced young man hooks up with an experienced man who's into bondage, control and role-playing? Exactly what should happen if the hook up is the experienced person he is supposed to be. Ah, but that's for you to find out. ;-)

24 Hitchhikers (USA, 2013)

Another pleasant surprise: old videos and photos taken by in the 60's and 70's by a man giving hitchhikers rides along the Pacific Coast Highway in the US. With Rainer Maria Rilke's poems as background. It's fascinating seeing how these men, these hitchhikers, opened up to this man's camera. Out of innocence? Out of a process of self discovery? Out of lust? This look into the past, into their past, was one of the highlights of the night.

Zolushka (USA, 2014)

Take Cinderella, make it 100% (male) gay, make the palace ball a party at a seedy club, make the godmother a drag queen, and exchange the crystal slipper with a tongue for tossing salad (and I'm not getting into any more details, thank you very much). Funny, I must admit it, ridiculous, but the funny kind of ridiculous.